House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 42% of the vote.
Health November 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, will the minister be able to explain to Minister Dubé, who has ensured that all the necessary infrastructure is in place to be ready to vaccinate Quebeckers, why we will not have any vaccines and, if there are any, that it will be in very limited quantities for a small number of Quebeckers?
Why do Quebeckers and Canadians have to wait nearly a year to be vaccinated? Will the minister explain that to Minister Dubé in their next conversation?
Health November 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, how can anyone believe anything that the minister and this government say?
The Quebec health minister, Christian Dubé, never heard a peep in response to the infamous letter he sent to the federal health minister. Minister Dubé turned to the media this week to express his frustration about the lack of communication.
We were just told that the ministers meet on a weekly basis, and so do the bureaucrats. Why does the Quebec health minister need to write a letter and tell the media that he has received no reply? This is not working; no one believes it.
Can the minister confirm that immediately after question period she will pick up the phone and call Christian Dubé?
Health November 25th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, what I get from that answer is that the government failed when it comes to negotiations and at the operational level.
There are vaccines coming. They are soon going to be approved. Why will the major nations of the world get the vaccine quickly while Canada still has to wait several more months? Can the Prime Minister explain that? People want to know.
Health November 25th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, for weeks, the Prime Minister has been saying that other countries are jealous because he secured the largest number of vaccines, hundreds of millions of them.
As far as I know, each person does not need eight doses. The vaccine only needs two doses to work. We would like an answer to the following question: Did the Prime Minister forget to negotiate a clause to allow the vaccine to be manufactured in Canada, yes or no?
COVID-19 Emergency Response November 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the Deputy Prime Minister, that is not the problem.
The problem is that the Prime Minister, who is back at Rideau Cottage, comes out every day to put on a little show for Canadians, but he has nothing to say. He gives press conferences with no new information.
Meanwhile, the American government has proven that it has an action plan. Procurement is already done. The distribution plan has been set in motion. Everyone knows where the government is headed. Let's look at a smaller country, the Netherlands. Officials there have announced that the vaccine will be given to people aged 60 and over, people with health problems and front-line health care workers.
Why does our government not come up with a comprehensive plan and announce it to Canadians?
COVID-19 Emergency Response November 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that we just get bits of information at a time.
On top of that, the provinces are the ones telling us about the plan to distribute vaccines when that information should be coming directly from Ottawa. Three provinces have announced how many vaccines they will receive.
Sure, the plan is easy to see: The vaccines will be distributed to the provinces on a per capita basis. However, we should not be getting bits of information from the provinces about the federal government's game plan. Why will the Government of Canada not share its distribution plan with the public? It should not be complicated.
Health November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, at some point they are going to have to stop insulting the public's intelligence. Canadians are no fools.
This morning, the minister said that we would have vaccines in the spring, but now we find out that the provincial premiers knew that Pfizer would have four million doses and that Moderna would have two million doses by March.
Why is the government unable to tell Canadians how many doses will arrive in March, so that we know what to do in the meantime?
Where is the plan?
Health November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, we all remember in the spring when the Prime Minister would come out of Rideau Cottage to lecture us. He told us to get ready for the second wave. It has been nine months since the pandemic started in Canada, and there is still no plan. There is plenty of talk, but no real plan.
Thousands of lives and jobs have been lost, and hundreds of billions of dollars have been added to our national debt. Borders, rapid testing and vaccines are the Liberals' responsibility.
Where is the plan?
Public Safety November 17th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the government is starting to understand that we cannot trust the Chinese Communist regime.
We saw this recently in the case of a contract that had been negotiated with CanSino Biologics for the development of a vaccine. The Chinese did not deliver; they backed out. This is actually good news for us. Now, with Nuctech, the government has realized that China cannot be trusted, especially when it comes to security.
My question is simple. Can the Minister of Procurement confirm to the House that Canada will never again do business with any Chinese-controlled companies?
Public Safety November 17th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, until recently, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal was reviewing a contract between the Government of Canada and Nuctech for the installation of X-ray scanners in our embassies around the world.
Yesterday evening, the committee learned that the contract with this company, which is owned by the Chinese government, had been cancelled. I find it unfortunate that the contract was cancelled only after Canadians and the opposition put pressure on the government. We can hardly conceive of the threat it would have posed to the security of Canadians travelling to our embassies.
Why did the Minister of Foreign Affairs approve this transaction for the embassies under his authority?